Actor Tallie Medel's Favorite Movies of 2013

In the lead-up to the unveiling of our definitive Top 50 Movies of 2013 list, we’ve asked some friends of Paste to tell us their favorites of the year. Tune in for a different list each day. Today’s contributor is actor Tallie Medel, the star of this year’s ‘The Unspeakable Act’ (pictured).

The Mud
(short, Nigel DeFriez/Bruce Bundy/Kira Pearson/Robert Malone)
Every time I watch this it stays newly frightening, lovely and funny. These four also made the short The Greggs, which is similarly wonderful.

Cheeseburgers is Paradise/Easy Lazy
(music video/short, Marc Osborne Jr.)
Full disclosure, Cocoon Central Dance Team, of which I’m a founding member, are the cast. But the real star is Alaska, and I love this because it’s a hometown friend collaboration in dark, familiar woods.

Shine
(short, Eleanore Pienta)
It’s so hard to really find a piece that has you laughing from your belly then utterly breaks your heart. This is a love letter to her favorite person and it’s a deeply generous gift to her audience. If you live in or near New York, come to her show January 23rd, 24th and 25th at Under St. Marks in the East Village.

WAWD AHP
(animation/short, Steve Girard)
WAWD AHP reminds me of watching Liquid Television at too young of an age and being terrified. It’s a lucid nightmare. Then there’s his cornrows.

See You Next Tuesday
(feature, Drew Tobia)
I love everything Mona does (again, that magnificent Eleanore Pienta), especially her spike to the camera in her dark bedroom and her pre-party speech. This movie is amazing. The final scene between May and Molly knocks the wind out of me; it guts me. This is my favorite film of the year.

Gravity*
(feature, Alfonso Cuarón)
*But the version I daydream about where she never had a daughter and there’s only insurmountable terror. So I really only loved the beginning. And what a beginning, holy mackerel.

...In a World
(feature, Lake Bell) I
loved Lake Bell and now I love her more. I was particularly moved by Dani (the brilliant Michaela Watkins) sliding to the floor, inarticulately asking “Wait. Wait—” It’s not quite like any comedy I’ve seen before.

Frances Ha (feature, Noah Baumbach) The failed trip to Paris. Her second chances. An accurate sense of what it feels like to move away from your best friend. I love Greta Gerwig as this character—as a 27-year old woman in New York myself, I felt taken care of by her.

It Felt Like Love
(feature, Eliza Hittman)
Gina Piersanti’s face is a miracle. What an accurate film about teen sexuality and the choices we make.